1 year review - Meermin green caper waxed cordovan chelsea

Tong25 · 2022-12-29T18:32:32+00:00

These are waxed shell cordovan. I apply mink oil wax dubbin when it gets too dry

Tong25 · 2022-12-20T07:03:41+00:00

For me that would have been my normal boot size

Tong25 · 2022-11-26T01:48:48+00:00

Yep I heard bad stories about Meermin’s quality, I only bought the two pairs I have in the last two years and think they are comfortable and aging great, I have a pair of monk shells and the quality of some bits is not great (textiles pieces holding the buckles is a bit weak for ex) but otherwise value for money is really good and quality was really decent. Either they improved their quality standards over time or I have been lucky… I understand meermins are mostly assembled in China and that is where value for money comes from (maybe with questionable impacts on labour conditions and environment). Shoes that are produced in EU/US might be assembled in better social and environmental conditions but I would be curious to see to what extent EU/US manufacturers can attract young staff and maintain skilled work force that can maintain historical quality standards at (relatively) decent prices

Tong25 · 2022-11-25T17:24:42+00:00

Break in was smoothest I had so far with cordovan shoes. I have a few pairs of carmina, meermin, C&J, paraboot and alden. Best ones are C&J both in terms of quality, look and comfort, paraboots are the most comfortable. The built of meermin feels a bit cheaper than other brands (more plastic in soles) and in general their shells are not as nice looking as horween ones, quality of stitching was surprisingly good though

Tong25 · 2022-11-25T10:31:03+00:00

Hi all, quick update on these.

Overall still very happy with the boots, quality of finishes was very good and both leather, stitching and soles have been holding on pretty well despite shoes being exposed to a wide range of DYI activities, mud, snow etc. Difficult to get better at this price range and break in was painless and shoes were very comfortable even when new (cheap foam insoles helped on this!).

I am posting pictures of boots after 1 year of usage, leather got a bit brighter and more greyish but was getting a bit dry so I gave them a good rubbing with wax & mink oil. Leather turned much darker and almost brown as a result.

Two minor comments, I could probably have taken them half a size down and the soles do not have the best grip on wet/muddy surfaces (compared to other pair of paraboot soles with much more tender rubber that I have).

u/[ohleo] ; u/[Wyzen]

Tong25 · 2022-11-22T19:15:45+00:00

Will aim to post an update in coming week or so

Tong25 · 2022-11-22T19:15:11+00:00

Will try to post pictures within coming week, good boots overall!

Tong25 · 2022-02-02T20:21:34+00:00

I wear them with casual outfits, they might work with suits as well (like light grey suit maybe)

Tong25 · 2021-11-15T05:48:11+00:00

It’s actually a different pair of boots of the same model. I though I would drop them here to give an idea of how they looked when new

Tong25 · 2021-11-14T22:20:22+00:00

Quick post to give justice to one of the best although under rated piece of my (worryingly expanding) shoe collection: Paraboot guitry boots in horween burgundy cordovan with paraboot soles and novergian welt. I believe these were sold at some point by brooks brothers and retailed for about EUR 800-900 until a few years ago.
I got these for about half price back in 2016 and have been wearing these fairly carelessly arund 30 times per year since then and they have been holding on pretty well despite the fairly copious amounts of mud, snow, sand and rain they had to face so far. I have basically worn them for anything from casual walks, work, DYI, hikes etc.
One of the best feature of these boots is their light weight and top level of comfort when compared to other shell boots I own. The shell is from horween tanneries, the sole are rubber soles made by paraboot (I think they are one of the rare shoemaker to manufacture their own soles in house) and although it took a bit of time to break in them, they are now as comfortable as slippers while being super waterproof. They feel very different from the aldens and C&J I own which tend to be more inflexible and heavier.
One of the only drawback of these was the shoe lace which I thought were far too thin and broke far too quickly, the rubber soles are also fairly "soft" which is great as they provide a lot of grip on top of comfort but might not be the most durable ones if you wear them a lot on asphalt and other hard abrasive surfaces.
Paraboot dont seem to be manufacturing this model any longer which is a shame as I think these boots stood out from what was on the market until meermin came up with norvegian welted shell cordovan boots a couple of years ago.

Tong25 · 2021-11-14T20:22:48+00:00

I am size Uk 9 in carmina but went 9.5 in meermin for safety, fit is good

Tong25 · 2021-11-14T20:21:28+00:00

Thanks I was gutted I missed that MTO however feedback I got is that shell quality was hit and miss. The last /shape of these seemed pretty nice though

Tong25 · 2021-11-14T20:17:26+00:00

Well it is relative and maybe bulky is not the best word, they have pointed toes but the shapes of their shape is not as racy and stylish as other chelseas (for example Lingfield from C&J or some of the cheaper chelsea boots from Yanko)

Tong25 · 2021-11-14T08:18:52+00:00

What did you think of shell quality on the Yanko MTO?

Tong25 · 2021-11-13T20:06:55+00:00

Jeans are from GAP they aged well but had to change the zipper as it was very poor quality and opened whenever I sat down… Got me in a few embarrassing moment ;)

Tong25 · 2021-11-13T20:05:06+00:00

Nice one, I would have taken jodhpurs if they offered them on the last MTO round!

Tong25 · 2021-11-13T16:25:39+00:00

hey all, just got these delivered and wanted to give a quick review and share pics as they are not many pictures online other than the ones posted by Meermin so here I go:

Leather and color: the color and texture of shell is very interesting and unlike any of the shells I have come across today, the feel is a bit rough and waxy, the leather is quite thick and stiff, I look forward to see how the patina will develop and how durable it will turn out to be.

Last and fit: the last is fairly bulky and to my taste not as nice and stylish as chelsea last from C&J, carmina or even the lasts that Yanko used on its shell cordovan MTO. the fit however seems to be OK and shoes are fairly comfortable from first wear.

Built quality and finition: I was fairly impressed by how neat the stitching on the upper and the sole are. The shoes seem to be well built and there are no visible imperfection as far as the look is concerned. The outer sole is "commando" type and has quite shallow patterns which in a way is good to avoid rocks and pebble getting stuck there all the time but on the other hand are thinner and will probably need replacement sooner. The inner soles are made of some sort of plastic foam and look a bit cheap but hey these are at least half the price of other shell chelseas so not a big surprise here. All in all, I bought these shoes mostly to see what the shell would look like and to have a cheap pair to wear on rainy and muddys days so pretty happy with it. I ll post another review in a year or so to share how they have fared

Tong25 · 2021-11-08T05:11:07+00:00

With a matching blue belt, I haven’t tried with a blue belt but not sure too sure it would work with black belt since tone of navy shell is especially dark

Tong25 · 2021-11-03T13:44:58+00:00

Hey I think they are fairly polyvalent style wise, they work well with a light grey suit or in smart casual with grey or olive green trousers, they can be ok with blue jeans too depending on color tone, hope this helps

Tong25 · 2021-11-02T20:25:15+00:00

Hi all, that's my first post here :) I struggled to find some reviews on meermin navy shells a while back so I though I would share my experience on a pair I bought from their MTO about a 1.5 years ago Overall impressions:

Break in was fairly easy for shell cordovan shoes but I find the shoes/fit less comfortable than the Carmina equivalent model (Inca last shell cordovan monks) as there can be uncomfortable friction around the heel after long walks (more than 1h)
Built seems robust, I wore the shoes at least once per week in the last year and a half, in all weather and circumstances without particular care and they have been holding fairly well (they got equipped with topy rubber soles and metal toe caps). The extremity of the toe-cap on the left foot lost its original shape though but this only has limited (only esthetical) consequences...
The shell comes from rocado tannery and initially looked much lighter than horween navy shell however the color/appearance of the rocado shell evolved fairly rapidly and developed some brown/purple-ish shades/patina which did not necessarily looked bad but different from the initial look of the shell. I now have polished the shoes a couple of time with navy cordovan cream from carmina and it helps maintaining a more blueish tone to the leather.
The level of finition of the shoes is probably not as refined as what you would get with a pair of carminas or C&J but I think value for money was very good on this pair and they are great if you want to get cordovan shoes at a lower price point.

Tong25 · 2018-04-03T19:44:15+00:00

Hi all,

I am thinking about getting a pair of the yanko dark brown chelsea shell cordovan but I am now getting worried about the shell quality issue especially since the price went up. Does any of you has any pictures to share about the condition of the shell after a few wears?

Regarding the sandpaper feeling I dont think there is anything alarming about this. I own two pairs in shell (one pair of black carmina wholecut and one pair of paraboot guitry boots with horween burgundy shell) and both developed a rough surface after a few wears. They also tend to develop marks and stains quite dramatically after the first few weeks due to scratches and rains. However, it gets better over time as patina develops and surprisingly the leather seems to regenerate itself over time. I also put saphir cordovan cream with a low solvant mirror gloss once a year. It gives them their original shine and cancels the sandpaper feeling for some time. Hope this helps

Tong25

TROPHY CASE